A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to recreational vehicles and accessories for use thereon, and more particularly to a stowable patio assembly to be used on a pickup truck-mounted camper, trailer or the like.
Recreational campers typically have a rearwardly located door for access into and out of the camper. When such campers were initially marketed, they generally were confined within the longitudinal boundaries of a pickup truck bed. However, with the increased demand for more substantial camper furnishings, the campers have become correspondingly larger and extend outwardly over the rear tailgate of the pickup as well as substantially over the side rails. Because of the larger campers, it has been necessary to provide for an access ramp or stairs for entering and leaving the camper.
Many states have passed laws which require that a camper have an unobstructed rear door during highway travel. An unobstructed rear door has been deemed necessary in order to provide for quick access in case a camper vehicle becomes involved in an accident and it is imperative for occupants riding in the camper to be removed rapidly and efficiently. While prior art stairs and platforms have been proposed for camper use, most of these devices obstruct the door opening when in a stowed position. Therefore, it has become necessary for a stairwell and a platform to be developed which may be readily assembled from a non-door obstructing stowed position to an operable position. Additionally, prior art camper door stairs do not provide for a patio or larger entrance platform. A larger platform is important in order to provide for temporary storage of articles to be placed into the camper as well as providing additional room for more than one individual at a time. The present invention provides for a stowable patio assembly which may be arranged with a platform extending substantially horizontally from below a camper vehicle door opening and further being laterally shiftable to one side thereof for substantially vertical stowage against a rear wall structure. A step structure, hingedly secured to the platform and movable therewith for substantially vertical placement when the platform is in the stowed position is also provided. Banister rails are provided alongside marginal edges of the platform to provide hand holds and protective supports for individuals entering and leaving the camper. The banister rails are foldable on a top portion of the platform for stowed relationship therewith when the platform is laterally shifted alongside the door opening for subsequent pivoting about the mounting bracket and stowage.
B. Description of the Prior Art
There have been several proposals for camper step constructions in the prior art. A typical example is U.S. Pat. No. 3,392,990, wherein a retractable camper body door step is disclosed. The door step is pivotally attached to a rod extending transversely along the back wall of a camper. The step may be operatively positioned either in front of or alongside the door opening and it is contemplated that the step may be secured to an inverted inoperative position alongside the door opening. However, no patio assembly is disclosed on the top of the steps nor are protective guide rails suggested and therefore it can be appreciated that this patent does not provide nor suggest several essential features of the present invention.
A further prior art patent to be considered is U.S. Pat. No. 3,796,456. Here, there is disclosed a ladder and platform assembly used in conjunction with a conventional rear-access camper. The assembly utilizes a fixed rectangular frame having receiving tracks for slidably engaging a movable frame inwardly and outwardly through an area located beneath the camper proper. The ladder is adapted to slide within the frame and is also pivotally connected to the rearward end of the fixed frame. While this device provides for a stowable ladder and platform assembly unobstructing the rear door, it is apparent that the assembly must be custom tailored for each camper in order to be slidably disposed thereunder. Furthermore, this patent does not suggest the use of protective side rails which may also be stowed with the ladder and platform assembly.
U.S. Pat No. 3,462,170 describes a camper step construction in which a collapsible step frame is pivotally secured to a tailgate of a pickup truck for subsequent collapsible stowage against a camper door. While this construction provides for a retractable configuration, it is apparent that it would be unacceptable in those states requiring free access to and from a rear door opening of a camper while the vehicle is used on the road.
Additional U.S. patents deemed of interest but not of further comment are U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,330,577, 3,370,875 and 3,515,406.